Varieties

Sambal has two varieties, Sambal and Botolan Sambal, spoken by approximately 70,000 (SIL 2000) and 32,867 (ibid. 2000) people, respectively. Sambal is spoken primarily in the Zambaleño municipalities of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc, and Iba; speakers can also be found in Panitian, Quezon, Palawan. Botolan, on the other hand, is spoken primarily in the Zambaleño municipalities of Botolan and Cabangan. The first variety is also called Tina language, a term considered by the Sambal-speaking Zambalenos as inappropriate when referring to their Sambal or Sambali language.